Folks, here we are again on the eve of the best time of the year to be a hockey fan, the playoffs! Let this be the place to talk up your team, trash the others, predictions, etc. Oh, fear not those naysayers that will chime in with their "Hockey sucks!" crap. Me? I'm psyched the Penguins are facing the Cryers in the first round! This has to be the toughest pairing to predict. Both goaltenders haven't looked particularly good at times during the season. If the series goes the way I think it will, the victor will have a tough time in the next round because this brawl will take it out of them, and then some. A little rant: I know the Kings are all about their "youth", but how about the ownership throwing their young guys a bone by picking up some talent at the trade deadline. I am/was a Kings fan who didn't get sucked into thinking 2/3 of the way through that they were really going to make the playoffs. The young kids did what young kids do, and that is they wilted through the drive to the playoffs. LA = big market with lots of hockey fans, yet this team has the 2nd lowest payroll in the league. Oh, a big thank you to the Ducks for trading Kunitz to the Pens! Whitney, really?? Pens fans couldn't wait to get rid of that anchor.
The Kings will win the cup this year! Oh wait, they aren't in the playoffs AGAIN. It's there 35th rebuilding year. Or is it 36th? :lol:
Some good hockey coming our way for sure (not like the last couple of weeks hasn't been down to the wire though, for some teams). I'm looking forward to Sharks-Wings (seems likely) for the Western Conference Finals...but there's always a big upset in the playoffs. Time to stock the fridge with more beer...
I want to Red Wings to win it all since I am from Detroit :lol: I believe they will at least win the Western Conference. I think either the Capitals or Bruins will win the Eastern Conference.
Not if Detroit has to play the Blackhawks any time during the playoffs! We've had Detroit's number all year :bang:
Not a big fan, of either the team or their chances in the playoffs, but it is nice to be talking about the Blackhawks again in April! That said, the Hawks have a tough first round opponent.
1st round, Calgary blows..St.louis' slipper is gona fall off Detoilet will win by default sharks/ducks is anybodys guess. I guess i would say the Hawks vs Ducks will will be in the WCF and be fav.to win it all. Boston will crumble to Pit in the ECF. :beer:
I got playoff tix so I will be at the game on Tues Thursday next week. yee haa gooooo ducccccckkkkkkkk
go bruins ...i've got pitt & sj in my hockey pool so i'll be hoping they do well it's been 37 years since boston hoisted the cup, team is looking good this year!
I'd love to see the Blackhawks go far. It won't happen, but it would be nice to see... I'm REALLY tired of Detroit being so good. Very tired of it. My wife's family is from Detroit and it just gets really old hearing Detroit this, Detroit that. YAWN. I'd say that 99% of Detroit fans have never even BEEN there. Have you ever been there? I have! It's a Sh!t hole and a half. So here is my prediction for the finals- Sharks vs. Bruins, Sharks win it in 7. Joe Thornton lifts the Cup in Boston to spite all the Bruins faithful!
Whoops, my bad. After posting this I realized that the Sharks have home ice advantage, so the Sharks can't win in Boston unless they win in 6 games. OK, so Sharks win it in 6 in Boston! I doubt that will happen, but it would be cool to see. I love playoff hockey! Too bad the Kings are not in it (again.)
Memories. Evidently somebody can. And yes I know it was 2003. I think the Flyers will beat San Jose in the finals this year. http://www.google.it/search?hl=it&q=Ducks+sweep+red+wings&meta=&aq=f&oq= Anaheim advances with first-round sweep of Detroit [FONT=helvetica,arial]Posted: Thursday April 17, 2003 1:41 AM[/FONT] [FONT=helvetica,arial]Updated: Thursday April 17, 2003 3:30 AM[/FONT] [FONT=helvetica,arial]Kirk Maltby consoles Curtis Joseph while the Mighty Ducks celebrate their series win in the background. Jeff Gross/Getty Images/NHLI[/FONT] ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- Jean-Sebastien Giguere could hardly believe it. Giguere again was outstanding in goal, and Steve Rucchin scored 6:53 into overtime Wednesday night as the Anaheim Mighty Ducks beat the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 to sweep the defending Stanley Cup champions out of the playoffs. "If you would have asked me at the beginning of the series about a sweep, I would have said, 'No,'" said Giguere, who stopped 32 shots in the Game 4 victory. In his first NHL playoffs, Giguere faced 171 shots and had 165 saves in the Western Conference series, a 1.24 goals-against average against the high-scoring Red Wings. The Ducks might have to wait as long as a week before beginning the second round against Dallas, St. Louis or Vancouver. Anaheim's sweep of the Red Wings was payback: The Ducks' only two previous appearances, Detroit beat them in four games, in the second round in 1997 and the first round in 1999. "They are a great team, and it's a good feeling to finally beat them," said Paul Kariya, who scored a first-period goal that tied the game 1-1. Jason Krog scored with 15:25 left in the third period to give the Ducks the lead, but Sergei Fedorov's goal with 2:15 left in regulation sent the game into overtime. Anaheim won the first game of the series 2-1 in triple overtime, and each of the four victories was by one goal. With new coach Dave Lewis, a former assistant, and new goalie Curtis Joseph, the Red Wings became only the second defending Stanley Cup champions to be swept the following year in a four-game opening series. In 1952, Detroit upset the 1951 champion Toronto Maple Leafs and went on to win the Cup. "We just did not get it done, not one game," Lewis said. "Their team played hard. One guy [Giguere] did not beat us; he was the difference, but their team beat us." The Red Wings' Darren McCarty said, "We just couldn't get that goal when we needed it. We're just all in shock." Rucchin scored his first goal of the series with a one-timer from 10 feet after defenseman Keith Carney centered the puck from behind the net. "The hockey gods reward the hardest workers and Rucchin worked the hardest this series and he deserved the goal," Anaheim rookie coach Mike Babcock said. Rucchin credited Carney for setting up the winning goal. "It was just a great play by Keith Carney all the way," Rucchin said. "It was a perfect pass." Carney said, "The puck was on the side of the net and I saw it just sitting there. I had a lot of time. I saw the scramble in front and just wanted to throw it out, and Rucchin was there." Detroit's Joseph gave up three goals on 27 shots. Fedorov's first goal of the series and 50th of his playoff career came on a deflection, with the puck bouncing off Niclas Havelid and into the net past Giguere. The Anaheim goalie also had almost no chance on Detroit's other score, by Henrik Zetterberg on a two-man breakaway at 13:23 of the first period. The goals were the second of the series for both Krog and Kariya. Grog scored the tying goal late in the Ducks' 3-2 win in Game 2. Kariya had the winner in Anaheim's 2-1, triple-overtime victory in the opening game. Zetterberg gave the Red Wings a short-lived 1-0 lead at 13:23 of the opening period, but Kariya tied it just 1:45 later, beating Joseph at close range. Adam Oates controlled the puck near the red line, skated into the Ducks' zone and made a perfect pass to Kariya, who broke behind the defense and beat Joseph high on the stick side from close range at 15:08 of the opening period. Brett Hull set up Zetterberg's goal, stealing the puck near the top of the left circle, quickly skating toward the right post, then feeding Zetterberg with a tap across the crease. Zetterberg flipped the puck into the upper left corner of the net for his first goal of the series. Notes: The Ducks' only previous series win in the postseason was in 1997, when they beat the Phoenix Coyotes in seven games before being swept by Detroit in the second round. ... Detroit has been swept in a four-game playoff series eight times in club history. ... Hull, who has 716 career regular-season goals; Steve Yzerman, with 660, and Luc Robitaille, who has 631, accounted for only one goal in the series against Anaheim -- Robitaille's score in Detroit's 3-2 loss in Game 2. The trio combined for 20 goals, 10 by Hull, in the postseason last year.
Dont forget this: 2007 Western Conference finals (1) Detroit Red Wings vs. (2) Anaheim Ducks The Western Conference Finals featured the number 1 and 2 Western Conference teams, the Red Wings and Ducks respectively, competing for a berth in the Finals. This would be the Red Wings' first trip to the Conference Finals since their last Cup win in 2002 (they failed to make it past the second round for three straight seasons afterward despite having terrific regular season records), while the Ducks made it for the second time since their 2003 Stanley Cup run in which they lost to New Jersey in 7 games. Detroit opened the series at home in Game 1 with a 2–1 victory, with both goals deflecting off Ducks defensemen. Game 2 was a different story as the scoring lead shifting between the teams. With the Wings leading 3–2 in the third period, a goal was ruled when the puck somehow crossed the goal line while settling over Hasek's knee as he slid backwards into the net, thus tying the game and sending it into overtime. Scott Niedermayer sealed victory for Game 2 as he scored in overtime to tie the series. Game 3 at Honda Center featured one of the most one-sided games witnessed in the playoffs, as the Red Wings blanked the Ducks 5–0 to take a 2–1 series lead. Chris Pronger was suspended by the NHL for Game 4. His suspension was a result of the same hit on Tomas Holmstrom that Rob Niedermayer was penalized for. While Pronger received no penalty for the hit during the game, Pronger was later suspended after NHL officials reviewed the replays, which showed Holmstrom being boarded from behind as a result of a Pronger elbow, drawing blood from a cut on his forehead. In Game 4, without Pronger, the Ducks had to step up their efforts. They dominated the first period with 3 goals, including a power play goal by Ric Jackman, Pronger's "stand in" for Game 4 in his first game of the playoffs. Detroit would came back after trailing 3–1 to tie the game 3–3 in the second period, only to have the Ducks respond with a stunning wrist shot goal from the blue line by Ryan Getzlaf and an empty net goal Rob Niedermayer that gave Anaheim the 5–3 win and tie the series at 2 games. The tied series returned to Detroit for Game 5. A goal from Detroit defenceman Andreas Lilja early in the second period put Detroit up 1–0. Throughout the game, the Red Wings dominated the play. Despite their controlling of the play, Detroit was only able to score once because of the strong play of Ducks goaltender J. S. Giguere. Finally, after over 59 minutes of play, the Ducks found the inside of net via a power play goal by Scott Niedermayer with just only 47 seconds left in the game. Niedermayer appeared to be attempting a pass to a Ducks player in front of the net, but his pass deflected off Detroit defenceman Nicklas Lidstrom's stick and over Dominik Hasek's glove. Halfway into overtime, Andreas Lilja was making a routine breakout play behind his net when fore checking pressure by Andy McDonald caused Lilja to turn the puck over to Teemu Selanne, who lifted a backhander above a sprawled Hasek to give the Ducks a stunning 2–1 overtime victory and a 3–2 series lead going back to Anaheim. Game 6 almost seemed to be anti-climatic of Game 5, starting with a short handed goal by Rob Niedermayer. The Ducks extended the lead to three in the second period. Early in the third period, Detroit scored a goal by Henrik Zetterberg. Samuel Pahlsson again extended the Ducks lead by three goals shortly after. Two powerplay goals from Pavel Datsyuk cut the Ducks' lead to only one late in the game. But despite the late period pressure, the Anaheim Ducks were able to hold on and win the game and the series to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals for the second time in their history.
Oh yea! How could I forget that one. It was nice to see the Detorit fans quiet for a change. I also seam to remember winning something in 2007... :-k
